bobby hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson has kept good musical company since an early age. Born in Los Angeles in 1941, and raised in Pasadena, he made the vibraphone his primary instrument after hearing a recording by the great Milt Jackson. “I heard him playing and I said ‘Ah, that’s just beautiful’. It’s that sound of crystal and wood and silver thread that kind of makes you feel like you’ve got some money in your pocket even if you don’t. The instrument has the sound of those summer afternoons when school’s out and there’s nothing to do but sit there in that personal little room where nobody else can go and listen to some music and go on a trip. It’s herring human emotions coming out of a piece of machinery and wondering how did he do that’”
After a brief study with Dave Pike, the teenage Hutcherson found himself working around Los Angeles with saxophonists Charles Lloyd and Curtis Amy. By 1960, he was touring with Al Grey and Billy Mitchell, and in 1961 he immersed himself into the New York City Jazz scene. There, he first worked with Jackie McLean before becoming a ubiquitous sideman in groups with Hank Mobley, Eric Dolphy, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Andrew Hill, and McCoy Tyner.
After topping the 1964 Down Beat Critics’ Poll in the Talent Deserving Wider Recognition category, Hutcherson cut Dialogue, his debut album as a leader. That cemented a relationship with the Blue Note label that continued into the mid-1970s.
Until 1971, when he moved to San Francisco, he co-led a quintet with saxophonist Harold Land, hiring Chick Corea, Stanley Cowell, Joe Sample, and Billy Higgins as sidemen.
During the ’70s and ’80s, Hutcherson’s notoriety as a vibist continued to grow. He collaborated with Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and McCoy Tyner, toured and recorded with the Timeless All-Stars (Harold Land, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Buster Williams, and Billy Higgins), and recorded as a leader for both the Columbia and Landmark labels. In 1986, he made his acting debut alongside Dexter Gordon and Herbie Hancock in the Bertrand Tavernier film ‘Round Midnight.
In 1993, Hutcherson played with Craig Handy, Lenny White, Mulgrew Miller, Ron Carter, and Jerry Gonzalez on Acoustic Masters II, and the following year he and McCoy Tyner recorded their acclaimed duet session, Manhattan Moods. “After that, “he explains, “I was in no hurry, I certainly didn’t want to do anything that wouldn’t be comfortable.”